Wednesday, 25 October 2017

A 21-YEAR-OLD maid from Bulawayo’s Emakhandeni suburb was found dead in a pool of blood at her employer’s house where she was staying alone.Ms Siphokuhle Ncube is suspected to have been murdered as her body had stab wounds on the chest and there was a piece of string tied around her neck. Neighbours told The Chronicle that they last saw Ms Ncube on Saturday.Her employer’s daughter Ms Portia Sibanda stumbled on the bloodied remains on Monday morning when she went to check on the house.Ms Ncube’s employer is said to be based in South Africa. Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Precious Simango said investigators were treating the incident as a murder.“We’re investigating a murder of a 21- year-old woman from Emakhandeni suburb who was found dead at a house she was living in. She was found with stab wounds on her chest and there was a string around her neck.“We are treating the case as a murder. We are appealing to members of the public who may have information leading to the arrest of her killer(s) to come forward,” said Insp Simango.

The Chronicle news crew managed to trace Ms Sibanda who lives in the same suburb.Ms Sibanda narrated the trauma of finding Ms Ncube’s body. She said she arrived at her mother’s house from her rural home and called Ms Ncube but got no response.Ms Sibanda said neighbours told her that they had not seen Ms Ncube since Saturday morning.“The door is not locked from outside but can be secured from inside. I somehow managed to open the door” said Ms Sibanda.She said once in the house she again called Ms Ncube but again there was not response.“I moved around the rooms and that is when I stumbled on her body. I knew straight away she could be dead.“I screamed in shock and immediately dashed out of the house. I was confused and a few minutes later I went back into the house,” she said.Ms Sibanda said she later alerted the neighbours who reported the incident to the police.“The police came and took the body away,” she said, appearing to be still in shock.Ms Sibanda described Ms Ncube as a committed employee saying she started working at the house in 2014.She said last year in September she left and went to South Africa and returned at the end of the year before resuming her duties in April.Ms Sibanda said she was clueless as to the motive behind the murder.One of the neighbours Mr Eugene Mthunzi said Ms Ncube’s death was a scary occurrence in the neighbourhood. chronicle